Cubs give Lou a birthday present – a win over Brewers

Jeff Vorva

Wednesday

Aug 29, 2007 at 12:01 AMAug 29, 2007 at 7:21 PM

Cubs beat Brewers 5-3.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella turned 64 on Tuesday, and he wanted just two presents.
“I want to get (Alfonso) Soriano back and get a win,” Piniella said in the afternoon.
The first part was easy. The National Central-leading Cubs activated Soriano off the disabled list before Tuesday night’s showdown with Milwaukee. He had been on the disabled list for the first time in his career after he hurt his right quadriceps on Aug. 5.
The second part wasn’t so easy -- at least not until after the seventh-inning stretch.
Minutes after Brewers announcer/baseball legend Bob Uecker was booed throughout his rendition of “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” and many Cubs fans re-sang the song, the North Siders erased a 3-1 deficit with a four-run outburst to claim a 5-3 victory in front of a Wrigley Field crowd of 40,884.
The Cubs (67-63) sent Milwaukee (65-66) into third place in the division, and the Brewers fell to 2½ games off the pace. St. Louis (two games back) moved into second place with a 7-0 victory over Houston.
Jacque Jones’ two-run double in the seventh brought home two runs to knot the game at 3-3. Ryan Theriot hit a high bouncer that relief pitcher Scott Linebrink (4-6) had to jump to field. The ball went off Linebrink’s glove for what was ruled an error and Jones scored the go-ahead run.
Setup man Bob Howry put runners at first and second in the eighth but got out of the jam when he induced pinch-hitter Gabe Gross to line out after a 12-pitch battle.
“That was a very dramatic eighth inning,” Piniella said. “Gross was fouling off a lot of pitches. I was thinking to myself, ‘I’ve had enough fun tonight.’ ’’
Ryan Dempster’s appearance was not so dramatic, much to Piniella’s liking. Dempster pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 22nd save and 10th successful conversion in a row.
Starting pitcher Rich Hill, who struck out the first four Brewers he faced, improved to 8-7 after giving up three runs and fanning nine in seven innings. He won his second straight decision. It’s the first time he’s won back-to-back decisions since winning three straight April 6-24.
Hill added an RBI single to put the Cubs on the board in the fifth, two innings after he struck out trying to bunt with runners at first and second.
“He’s a better hitter than bunter,” Piniella cracked.
It was the Brewers’ 34th loss of the season in games they held leads. They are 16-27 since the All-Star break.
Soriano finished his first night back 0-for-4 with two flyouts and two groundouts. Craig Monroe replaced Soriano in left in the ninth inning and Piniella said he was going to do that to ease the burden on Soriano’s leg. Before the game, Soriano admitted he was at about “90 percent” with his leg and didn’t plan on attempting any stolen bases until next week.
With Theriot (who entered the night with a team-high 22 stolen bases and owned a .351 on-base percentage) filling in nicely for Soriano at the leadoff spot, some thought it might make sense to keep the shortstop batting first and put Soriano in a power slot, such as fifth.
“That’s where he likes to hit,” Piniella said. “Why try to invent the wheel in August?”
Piniella said Soriano can still run effectively.
“If we need to send him (when the count is) 3-2, we’ll send him 3-2,” Piniella said. “Are we going to ask him to steal bases? Probably not. At the same time, I thought about where to put him in the lineup and it always came back to the one-hole and that’s where he’s going to be.”
Theriot was moved to second in the lineup on Tuesday.
“Whatever is best for the team,” Theriot said. “Obviously he’s a dangerous hitter and has done well at leadoff. Why mess with that?”
The Cubs are now the lone team without a losing record in this weakened division. But Mark DeRosa is not apologizing for it.
“I’m sure St. Louis isn’t going to give their (World Series) rings back after going 82-80 last year,” De Rosa said. “Apologize for nothing. We’re in first place in our division with 30-some odd games left.”
More Cubs news is at www.dailysouthtown.com/sports.